Piano-repairer&#39;s tool.



PATBNTED JAN. 16, 1906.

S. M. KING.

PIANO REPAIRERS TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 6. 1905 xiv/WMM.

A TTOHNE YS IINITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL M. KING, OF MARION, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO DAVID A. WILLIAMS, OF MARION. INDIANA.

PIANO-REPAIRERS TOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1906.

Application filed October 6, 1905. Serial NO- 2811639' T0 a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. KING, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of Marion, in the county of Grant and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piano-Repairers Tools, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention is an improvement in devices for use by piano-repairers, and has for an object to provide a simple construction for use in polishing and cleaning rust from the tune-pins and that portion of the pianostrings which is coiled around the pins and becomes rusted whenever the pins rust, and the invention consists in certain novel constructions and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the tool as in use. Fig. 2 is a side view of the tool, and FiO'. 3 is a detail perspective view of the-rod for bearing against the end of the pin to be polished.

Frequently pianos are seriously damaged by the rusting of the tune-pins, which will also cause that part of the string in Contact with the rusted pin to rust, which not only damages the tone, but weakens the string and causes the same to break under the enormous strain exerted thereon. The tune-pins are placed in several rows and close together, so it is impossible to get at them with the hand. The purpose of my invention is to provide a simple tool which can be easily used to aid in polishing the pins and the wires thereon. Ordinarily the rows of tune-pins in an upright piano are on a horizontal level with a mans breast, so that in polishing the same by the use of my improved tool pressure is exerted on the latter by the breast of the operator in the manner presently described. In polishing the pins strips of cloth are ordinarily used as wide as the length of the tune-pins, and this cloth is wrapped around the pin and held at the ends in the operators hand, so it can be drawn rapidly around the pin to polish the same, as desired. The purpose of my tool is to enable the operator to maintain the polishing-cloth on the pin and to shift it inwardly along the pin when desired in order that the pin may be thoroughly polished from end to end. To this end I construct my tool with means for engaging against the end of the pin to be polished and also with means movable over said first means for shifting the polishing medium along the pin to be polished.

As shown, the tool comprises a rod A, a cylinder B over the said rod, and a stock D, extended at E and provided at its end with a knob F, which may bear against the breast of a workman.

The rod A is socketed in its outer end A to iit on the end of the tune-pin G and operates at said end through an opening B in the outer end of the cylinder B. The rod A also has a disk or piston A2, fitting within the cylinder, and a shank A3, which projects beyond the cylinder B and into a socket D in the stock D, the said stock being screwed at D2 into the open end of the cylinder B, a coiled spring H being arranged within the cylinder and bearing between the piston A2 and the stock D and operating to normally force the guide-rod A to the position shown in Fig. 2, in which it is advanced to its full extent, and at the same time the spring permits the cylinder B, which forms a cylindrical pusher for the polishing-cloth I, to be forced over the point A of the rod A in order to shift the polishing-cloth inwardly along the pin Gr, as may be desired in the use of the invention.

It will be noticed that the cylinder B is rounded or ohamfered on its outer end at B2 to form a smooth surface against which the polishing-cloth may be moved in the operation of the invention.

In operation it may be desirable to employ a set-screw J, as shown in Figs. l and 2, in order to stop the piston at any desired point.

In operation the polishing-cloth is placed around the pin, with the ends held in the hands of the operator, and the cloth is drawn rapidly around the tune-pin. The position of the pusher-cylinder is controlled by a spiral spring, so that in operation by a greater or less pressure upon the knob F the cylinder may be moved backward or forward over the guide-rod A to adjust the polishing-cloth to any desired point on the pin and back over the wires to the pin-plate G, thus quickly removing all rust from the pins and wires and restoring them to their original brightness or polish. This operation is practically impossible with the close arrangement of the pins without the use of my improved tool, which greatly facilitates the operation, as each pin can be quickly polished separate from the others.

IOO

It will be noticed that the tool possesses no parts which are liable to quickly wear out or are easily broken.

When using the set-screw J, it should be understood that when the tune-pins rust the strings coiled around the pins will also rust, and sometimes the rust extends along the strings some distance from the pins. In such cases by setting the rod A back into the socket D and securing the pin in said socket by the set-screw J the cylinder B will pass over the tunepin and press the polishing cloth more easily and firmly over the strings and against the same, removing the rust from the strings adjacent the coiled portions of the strings, the set-screw ordinarily being only used when the rust has accumulated beyond the coils.

In making the tools for use the rod A and the socket D maybe made of suitable lengths and depths, so that the set-,screw will engage the rod A at different points, as may be desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Atool, substantially as herein described, comprising a guide-rod socketed in its outer end to engage with the end of a tune-pin and provided with a disk or piston and with a shank projecting therefrom, a pusher-cylin der having at its outer end an opening for the guide-rod and threaded within its opposite end,vthe stock threaded in said end of the cylinder and having a socket to receive the shank of the guide-rod, an extension, having a knob against which the operator may press, and a spring within the cylinder and bearing between the disk or piston and the stock, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A tool for use in polishing piano tune pins, comprising means for engaging against the end of a pin, and means movable thereover for shifting the polishing medium along the pin to be polished.

3. A tool for use in polishing piano tunepins, comprising a rod to bear against the end ofthe pin to be polished, and a cylindrical pusher movable along and over the said rod whereby it may operate to push or shift the polishing medium along the pin to be polished.

4. A tool for use in polishing piano tunepins, comprising a guide-rod to bear against the end of a pin, a cylindrical pusher movable over said rod and adapted to be shifted at one end along the pin to be polished, and a spring bearing between said rod and cylinder.

5. A tool for use in polishing piano tunepins, comprising a guide-rod to bear against the outer end of a tune-pin, a cylinder over said guide-rod and movable along and beyond the outer end thereof, a spring for actuating the guide-rod, and a rod in connection with the cylinder and lhaving a knob against which the operator may press in the use oil the invention, substantially as set forth.

SAMUEL M. KING. Witnesses:

G. W. RAUCH, D. F. WILLIAMS. 

